Garment-supporter



(No Model.)

L E ROY S. WHITE.

GARMENT SUPPORTER. No. 364,387, PatentedJune 7, 1887.

ffl'izwases. I V

N. PETERS, Photo-Lithograph WilNngfon. 04C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LE ROY S. WHITE, OF WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT.

GARMENT-SUPPO RTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 364,387, dated June 7,1887. Application filed January 10,1887. Serial No. 223,843. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it; may concern:

Be it known that I, LE ROY S. \VHITE, of VVaterbnry, in the county ofNew Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Garment-Supporters, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to that class of garment-supporters which consistof a stirrup or bail-like portion serving for the attachment of a strap,and converging arms, which are brought near together at the opposite endof the device, and which are elastic, so that they hold tightly upon thestocking or other garment wedged between them. Supporters of this classhave usually been stamped or blanked out from sheet metal or made ofwire, and heretofore, when made of wire, the wire has most frequentlybeen continuous throughout thetwo converging arms and thebend, wherebythey are joined at the bottom of the device or at its ends, and havebeen lapped and secured by solder or a band in the stirrup or bail-likeportion in the top.

The object of my invention is to provide for readily joining the ends ofthe wire at the smaller end ofthe device, without the employment of anysolder, in such manner as to improve the appearance of the device.

The invention consists in a garmeut'supporter composed of a piece ofwire bent to form a stirrup or bail-like portion at the top of thedevice, and converging arms, the ends of the wire forming theextremities of the arms and having lateral offsets or projections, and aseamless cap of sheet metal folded or closed over and concealing theextremities of the arms and inclosing the lateral offsets orprojections.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l'is aview of a complete deviceembodying my invention. Fig. 2 represents the extremities of the twoconverging arms and a sectional view of the cap whereby they areconfined. Fig. 3 represents a transverse section on the plane of thedotted line 00.1 Fig. 2; and Figs. 4 and 5 :reprcsent one of theconverging arms in planes at right angles to each other, showing how itsend is slightly flattened to form lateral offsets or projections.

All the figures are drawn upon a scale larger than actual size, and Fig.1 is upon a scale smaller than theremaiuing figures; and in all thefigures similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts.

The device comprises a stirrup or bail-like portion, A, and two arms, B,which extend therefrom in the same direction, and which convergedownward to their lower extremities. The arms throughout the lowerportion of their length converge slightly, or they may, when the deviceis not in use, lie substantially parallel and when a stocking or othergarment or fabric is wedged between these arms it serves to spread them,and the resistance which they oppose to such spreading movement causesthem to biteor clamp securely upon the fabric and hold the same fromaccidental disengagement from the supporter. A strap is 'usnallysewed tothe stirrup or baillike portion A, and may be attached to some part ofthe garments above.

The ends of the wire are at the two extremities of the converging arms13, and are secured and confined together by a seamless cap, 0, which ismade of sheet metal and is closed over the extremities of the arms. Thecap 0 may be struck up, by means of a punch and die, of-soft brass orother metal. The metal from which the cap is made will be softer thanthe steel wire forming the converging arms B, and by pressure on the capbetween dies, after the ends of the wire have. been introduced withinit, the metal of the cap will be closed tightly upon the ends of thewire, and they will be secure from disengagement from the cap. To makethe hold of the cap upon the ends of the wire more secure, the ends ofthe wire may be formed with lateral offsets 0r projections, which may beproduced by flattening the extremities of the wire, as shown at b, andthe cap is closed upon the arms B above such lateral offsets orprojections, and, indeed, by closing the cap 0 upon the ends of the wirethe offsets or projections formed by flattening the wire may be causedto indent themselves into the metal of the cap, as best shown in Fig. 3.

By my invention it will be seen that a sin: gle thickness'of wire isused throughout the entire stirrup or bail A and arms B, and the cap 0serves to properly confine the ends of the wire and imparts a neatfinish to the arti- .ele.

I am aware that it has been proposed to make a towel-holder ofsubstantially the form of the device shown in my drawings, and to securethe ends of the wire by casting upon them a ball of metal. Although theends of the wire might be properly held by such ball of metal, the heatof the molten metal when run around them might have a tendency to reducethe temper of the converging arms or render them soft or annealed, andit is believed that the ends may be secured by a sh eet-- metal cap at aless cost than by casting a ball of metal upon them.

\Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is

\Vitnesses:

GEO. E. TERRY, ,NATHANIEL R. Bnonson.

